Yes, you can smoke at Townsville Airport (TSV) — outdoors, landside, before the security screening point. The terminal interior is smoke-free, so step outside before you join the check-in or security queue.
Where to Smoke at Townsville Airport
Townsville is a single integrated terminal building shared with RAAF Base Townsville, with a southern concourse handling international flights and a northern concourse handling domestic departures. Open-air smoking is permitted outside the terminal building, landside, beyond Queensland’s 5-metre entrance buffer; the airport publishes no marked or numbered smoking spot, so keep clear of the doors and follow any on-site signage.
There is no airside smoking area at Townsville, so a connecting passenger would need to exit landside, smoke outside, and re-clear security before returning to the gate. Brisbane (BNE) remains the only Australian airport with a smoking facility after security — see Brisbane’s Level 3 Smoking Balcony if your itinerary routes that way.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping follows the same rule as smoking at Townsville — Queensland law treats e-cigarettes the same as tobacco, so the same open-air landside area applies, beyond the 5-metre entrance buffer. Australia sells vapes through pharmacies only — the Therapeutic Goods Administration allows strengths of 20 mg/mL nicotine or less to adults 18 and over without a prescription, and higher strengths on prescription — so no shop at the airport stocks them. Travellers arriving from overseas may bring a small personal quantity in accompanied baggage for their own use and declare it to the Australian Border Force; a prescription or doctor’s letter is not required.
Summary
| Area | Smoking? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Smoke-free under Queensland law |
| Airside / after security | No | No airside smoking area |
| Outdoor landside area | Yes | Outside the terminal, before security; no numbered spot published |
| Vaping | Yes | Same outdoor area; treated like smoking under Queensland law |
For Australia-wide airport smoking rules, the vape restrictions and every other Australian airport, see our Australia smoking guide.